The study of mediaeval, Turkish and modern Greek history now attracts considerable attention in Athens. Important works upon these periods have been recently published by Greek scholars; lectures upon Byzantine history in particular are crowded not merely by students, but also by the general public, and several newspapers make a special feature of articles by specialists on social life in the reign of Otho. In these circumstances it is fortunate that the British School has possessed since 1899 the Finlay library, to which the adjacent library of M. Gennadios, opened in April, now provides a worthy counterpart.
The Finlay library, of which I speak from some two years' work among its shelves, consists, apart from general literature and travels, mainly of four divisions: (1) books used by Finlay for the Byzantine, Trapezuntine, Frankish and Turkish periods of his history; (2) books about the War of Independence and the reign of Otho; (3) a collection of Greek newspapers; and (4) Finlay's review articles, Times' correspondence, diaries and other documents. Of these the first section is nowadays the least important. Since Finlay's death much has been published about the Byzantine, Frankish and Turkish times, and the Empire of Trebizond, which renders some of his sources inadequate or obsolete.